RUN FOR YOUR LIVES WORLD TOUR (2025/2026)

[Eddie's Uncle]

What the fuck do you know about my mindset, honey?

Such things happen when you comment with a strong reply without giving proper context

I replied with oof because...

You accuse them of price gouging on the shirts (probably true)

"Accuse" is a strong word, I am merely stating a fact here: their shirts are more expensive than in club shows. Every major band does it, so I am not specifically taking a shot at Maiden here, but they are no exception to these politics, and I am not gonna go with it.

You accuse them of safebet setlists (Not in the last 10yrs, not in my opinion).

Well, I expect THIS particular tour to be a safebet setlist, and when you look at the setlist discussion here, many others do too. As for tours of the past 10 years, I rarely saw deep cuts in there.

And you say they pander to younger fans, the implication being that it's for financial gain, to sell more tickets. This calls their artistic integrity into question (impossible to tell but I doubt it).

Well, to me it seems that they take care not to alienate casual fans with daring setlists, while counting on the hardcore fans to accept this. Of course I do not KNOW the reason for this, but I guess it makes sense from a marketing point of view, and we all know that Rod Smallwood is very aware of such things and has been quoted a hundred times of saying that his job is to make the brand (!) Iron Maiden as big as possible. So I guess my theory is not out of the blue. Rod most likely has a say in such questions, and even though Steve is the ultimate boss, I am sure he listens when Rod has something to say.
Again, I am not accusing them. It is an understandable choice. Just not one that I find very attractive.

So you're damn right I consider that worthy of an oof. Doesn't mean I think you're entirely wrong or not entitled to express your opinion, just means I saw it as quite a dig at the band. Which it is. Which is fine.

I can understand this, even though it was not really meant as a dig, but rather "this is what they do, here is what I like. It is not really compatible, so go a different way, and wish you all fun". No hard feelings. I am not disappointed and do not stay home with anger or disappointment.

It was nothing to do with your gig preferences, which seem similar to my own.

Cool

 

[Vaenyr]

Well, I expect THIS particular tour to be a safebet setlist, and when you look at the setlist discussion here, many others do too. As for tours of the past 10 years, I rarely saw deep cuts in there.

I get your overall point, but I wanna reply to the bolded in particular. Maybe they didn't play enough for your tastes, but most tours of the past decade included at least some.

Afraid To Shoot Strangers for Maiden England was a massive surprise.
Powerslave for the BOS tour is arguably a deep cut. Yeah, it's the title track to one of their most beloved albums, but it was never a concert staple. It was featured on its album tour + its history throwback, and the Ed Huntour, the latter of which was decided by fan voting if I recall correctly.
LOTB had a bunch of rarities as well. Flight Of Icarus hadn't been played in ages and became a center piece for the show. FTGGOG was only played in 06/07. The two Blaze epics, while on the incredibly popular Rock In Rio, are almost dictionary definitions of deep cuts.
A good third of the Future Past setlist consists of deep cuts that hadn't been played live in literal decades, and in the case of Alex we even got a live premiere for a song, outside of its album tour, for the very first time.

Considering how tame and non-adventurous Maiden setlists used to be for large parts of their career (with the notable exception that each album tour tended to include a good chunk of the new album, which is not a guarantee if you look at what other bands are doing) I feel that the last decade has seen some of the most exciting curve balls in a long while, as far as setlists go.

 

[GhostofCain]

I get your overall point, but I wanna reply to the bolded in particular. Maybe they didn't play enough for your tastes, but most tours of the past decade included at least some.

Afraid To Shoot Strangers for Maiden England was a massive surprise.
Powerslave for the BOS tour is arguably a deep cut. Yeah, it's the title track to one of their most beloved albums, but it was never a concert staple. It was featured on its album tour + its history throwback, and the Ed Huntour, the latter of which was decided by fan voting if I recall correctly.
LOTB had a bunch of rarities as well. Flight Of Icarus hadn't been played in ages and became a center piece for the show. FTGGOG was only played in 06/07. The two Blaze epics, while on the incredibly popular Rock In Rio, are almost dictionary definitions of deep cuts.
A good third of the Future Past setlist consists of deep cuts that hadn't been played live in literal decades, and in the case of Alex we even got a live premiere for a song, outside of its album tour, for the very first time.

Considering how tame and non-adventurous Maiden setlists used to be for large parts of their career (with the notable exception that each album tour tended to include a good chunk of the new album, which is not a guarantee if you look at what other bands are doing) I feel that the last decade has seen some of the most exciting curve balls in a long while, as far as setlists go.

You forgot to add Children of the Damned to the list. A huge surprise on the BOS tour.

 

[07-SMS:A1L]

Afraid To Shoot Strangers for Maiden England was a massive surprise.

Yes, that was really cool. Too bad they removed it from the set before the 2014 leg. Murders in the Rue Morgue in 1998 was a shocker. I didn’t expect Fallen Angel or Out of the Silent Planet to make it into the set in 2001, but it was great that they leaned heavily on Brave New World at the time.

 

[Mosh]

I think Maiden does about as much as they can given the size of their catalog, their fanbase, and self imposed limitations (no rotating setlists, 15-16 song limit, a certain number of staples that always get played). While I wish they would ditch some of what feels like arbitrary setlist rules, namely playing songs like Fear of the Dark/Iron Maiden at every gig and the formulaic setlist structures, the fact that you can reliably expect them to play at least half of the newest album as well as pull out at least a few songs that haven't been played in a long time on their nostalgia tours is pretty much unheard of for a legacy band of their caliber. Also stuff like FTGGOG and the Blaze songs on Legacy of the Beast is pretty remarkable, imagine Judas Priest doing a nostalgia tour and playing ripper songs plus a deep cut from Nostradamus. Imagine Judas Priest playing anything off Jugulator.

The gold standard for a band of that size is still Rush, but Rush was playing 3 hour shows and I think was serving a fanbase that allowed them to go a little deeper than Maiden. They also didn't have as many songs that were "obligatory" to the setlist (although I think Maiden sometimes overestimates how many songs they have to play on a regular basis).

 

[Vaenyr]

Yeah, I gotta say, I give Maiden a ton of props for consistently playing at least half of the new record on album tours, FOTD being the sole exception if I'm not mistaken. This influenced how I saw setlists once I started listening to metal and I was in for a rude awakening once I saw how most other bands handled their setlists. It's not uncommon for a band to play a couple of singles and maybe a third song of their newest album and then just play some classics. I understand that decision, many smaller to mid-size bands (talking success, not the number of members lol) simply can't afford to be too adventurous and playing too many deep cuts. They need to secure their audience in some way.

Another thing I appreciate about Maiden is how the opener on such tours will always be from the new album. That shows confidence in the material. Like, I love Blind Guardian, but man is it annoying (to me) for how long freaking Into The Storm has been their go to opener for shows.

 

[07-SMS:A1L]

The gold standard for a band of that size is still Rush, but Rush was playing 3 hour shows and I think was serving a fanbase that allowed them to go a little deeper than Maiden. They also didn't have as many songs that were "obligatory" to the setlist (although I think Maiden sometimes overestimates how many songs they have to play on a regular basis).

If I remember this correctly, if you compare the Rush live albums Snakes & Arrows Live and All the World's a Stage there is not a single song that appears on both albums. Snakes & Arrows Live includes just one song from the 70's, while All the World's a Stage features songs from the first four Rush albums released between 1974-1976. The Rush catalogue is incredible in this way, you could build a live album focusing exclusively on the albums from the 80's and it would still be a world class album! The closest Maiden ever came to excluding their most popular decade (the 1980s) was during the A Matter of Life and Death World Tour, where they performed only four songs from their '80s catalog.

 

[Mosh]

If I remember this correctly, if you compare the Rush live albums Snakes & Arrows Live and All the World's a Stage there is not a single song that appears on both albums. Snakes & Arrows Live includes just one song from the 70's, while All the World's a Stage features songs from the first four Rush albums released between 1974-1976. The Rush catalogue is incredible in this way, you could build a live album focusing exclusively on the albums from the 80's and it would still be a world class album! The closest Maiden ever came to excluding their most popular decade (the 1980s) was during the A Matter of Life and Death World Tour, where they performed only four songs from their '80s catalog.

And this is why it's a loaded comparison and one that I was hesitant to make. The Snakes & Arrows live album has several massive hits that Rush hadn't written yet when they made All the World's a Stage. Maiden doesn't have a similar thing because their most popular material is mostly concentrated to the 80s.

It is worth noting that Rush mostly avoided repeats on their live albums until they started releasing full shows: All the World's A Stage, Exit Stage Left, A Show of Hands are almost completely unique setlists. But then this is true for Maiden as well going from Live After Death to Maiden England to A Real Live One (the "major" live albums from their classic period).

 

[GhostofCain]

As much as I like Maiden and agree with the comments made regarding the appearance of deep cuts in their setlists in the last decade, they cannot be compared with Rush, who went beyond what Maiden does when it came to choosing setlists.

Average setlist for the Vapor Trails tour (2002) In addition to new material, they played songs that had not been played live since the early 80s.

Average setlist for the R30 tour (2004) Lots of changes from the previous tour.

Average setlist for the Snakes & Arrows tour (2007–08) Again an excellent example of debuting new material and digging deep in the vaults, playing some songs that were last played in the late 70s and early 80s!

Average setlist for the Time Machine tour (2010–11) Moving Pictures played in its entirety (The Camera Eye was last played live in 1983), debut of some new songs... I was lucky enough to see the band at their London show on this tour!

Average setlist for the Clockwork Angels tour (2012-13) Most of the new album played live plus songs that have not been played live since the 80s or 90s.

Average setlist for the R40 tour (2014) What a way to bow out 26 songs spanning the band's career, played in reverse chronological order, with some of them not having been played live since the 70s/early 80s. Shame they did not visit Europe on this tour.

 

[Prowler]

Maiden can't be compared with Rush, indeed. Rush setlists were never predictable. We can safely predict 80% of the next tour's setlist, that would never be the case with Rush. Also, it's true Maiden have more hit songs that they have to play and the self imposed limitation that they have to play IM before the encore. Judas Priest on the other hand, have even more staples. They will always play Hell bent, Painkiller, Living after midnight, Breaking the law, You've got another thing coming, Green Manalishi. Maybe I forget other songs too. Priest will do a "Future Past" tour this year. Let's see if they will be creative or it will just be 5 Painkiller songs, 5 Invincible Shield and the 5 staples. The good thing with Priest is that even if they play all the hits, they are all shorter songs so they play 17-18 songs, not just 15.

 

[Kalata]

I think Maiden does about as much as they can given the size of their catalog, their fanbase, and self imposed limitations (no rotating setlists, 15-16 song limit, a certain number of staples that always get played)... the fact that you can reliably expect them to play at least half of the newest album as well as pull out at least a few songs that haven't been played in a long time on their nostalgia tours is pretty much unheard of for a legacy band of their caliber. Also stuff like FTGGOG and the Blaze songs on Legacy of the Beast is pretty remarkable ...although I think Maiden sometimes overestimates how many songs they have to play on a regular basis).

Yeah, I gotta say, I give Maiden a ton of props for consistently playing at least half of the new record on album tours, FOTD being the sole exception if I'm not mistaken. It's not uncommon for a band to play a couple of singles and maybe a third song of their newest album and then just play some classics.
Another thing I appreciate about Maiden is how the opener on such tours will always be from the new album. That shows confidence in the material.

Agree with all. And we have to say that rotating new album & Hits tours helps with that. Also, they could be/have been even more adventurous over the years (like doing a short 90's-themed tour or to swap some songs between legs every time), but still very nice. I'm really happy that they always play half of a new album live. As I said before, the ultimate tour left to be done for them would be doing only deep cuts from all eras!
The past tour showed that even with 3-4 classics a set can work. The sets since 1999 are more interesting than the 80's (fair) and especially the 90's! Glad.

We can safely predict 80% of the next tour's setlist

Because it's only the first 9 albums, but we can only be certain about 7 songs, right. We know what to guess for the rest (from SIT, yes or no), but it's always between two songs from an album or epics. SSOASS has a few candidates, maybe no more than 3 early days songs, 2 or 3 big epics, 2 or 3 90's songs... *they are in an adventurous mood for the past tours, even though this tour is pure hits.

Edit: and because they are with a new drummer, some easier songs that could have been played to help Nicko could be omitted, who knows.

 

[Nomadd]

Agree with all. And we have to say that rotating new album & Hits tours helps with that. Also, they could be/have been even more adventurous over the years (like doing a short 90's-themed tour), but still very nice. I'm really happy that they always play half of a new album live. As I said before, the ultimate tour left to be done for them would be doing only deep cuts from all eras!

I'm thinking about the forthcoming tour and the 50 Anniversary. We've got half of February and apart from the tour which was announced a few months ago - there's nothing new to come - the plans, something we could call aces up the sleeve as Smallwood announced. Many times in the past the Maiden camp teased fans with "something incredible to come" and finally the effect was under expectations. The words cost nothing

 

[Vaenyr]

We can only be sure about 6 songs, right.

Iron Maiden
Phantom Of The Opera
Run To The Hills
Hallowed Be Thy Name
The Trooper
Fear Of The Dark

Those are the guaranteed inclusions imo. Next we have some that are almost guaranteed as well, imo:

The Number Of The Beast
The Evil That Men Do and/or The Clairvoyant
Wrathchild (or some other song representing Killers)
Another early 80s rocker like Running Free or Sanctuary

That's probably 2/3s of the setlist already covered and that's before we talk about potential and rumoured epics like Rime of SSOASS, or representation for SIT and maybe even NPFTD (Bring Your Daughter?)

I just really wanna hear the reunion line up play Killers (the title track) again.

 

[Kalata]

I just really wanna hear the reunion line up play Killers (the title track) again.

Me too. Plus To Tame A Land if I have to add more. And ofc a couple of different 90's songs. Another debut of a song would be awesome. I wouldn't rule it our after Alexander, nope.

 

[Kalata]

I'm thinking about the forthcoming tour and the 50 Anniversary. We've got half of February and apart from the tour which was announced a few months ago - there's nothing new to come - the plans, something we could call aces up the sleeve as Smallwood announced. Many times in the past the Maiden camp teased fans with "something incredible to come" and finally the effect was under expectations.

There's still time, the year has just begun. For a new live release too... right.

 

[Nomadd]

There's still time, the year has just begun. For a new live release too... right.

So, let's hope you're right!

 

[Mosh]

As much as I like Maiden and agree with the comments made regarding the appearance of deep cuts in their setlists in the last decade, they cannot be compared with Rush, who went beyond what Maiden does when it came to choosing setlists.

Average setlist for the Vapor Trails tour (2002) In addition to new material, they played songs that had not been played live since the early 80s.

Average setlist for the R30 tour (2004) Lots of changes from the previous tour.

Average setlist for the Snakes & Arrows tour (2007–08) Again an excellent example of debuting new material and digging deep in the vaults, playing some songs that were last played in the late 70s and early 80s!

Average setlist for the Time Machine tour (2010–11) Moving Pictures played in its entirety (The Camera Eye was last played live in 1983), debut of some new songs... I was lucky enough to see the band at their London show on this tour!

Average setlist for the Clockwork Angels tour (2012-13) Most of the new album played live plus songs that have not been played live since the 80s or 90s.

Average setlist for the R40 tour (2014) What a way to bow out 26 songs spanning the band's career, played in reverse chronological order, with some of them not having been played live since the 70s/early 80s. Shame they did not visit Europe on this tour.

Yea, I mean like I said Rush is the gold standard here. I think there are a variety of factors both in and out of Maiden's control that contribute to them not being close to Rush's level.

 

[Trevoire]

Yeah it has been frustratingly quiet since Nickos departure.

 

[GhostofCain]

Yea, I mean like I said Rush is the gold standard here. I think there are a variety of factors both in and out of Maiden's control that contribute to them not being close to Rush's level.

I think their reluctance to play longer gigs (probably due to Bruce's voice not lasting long in that setting) plays a significant part. "A night with Iron Maiden" akin to what Rush did would be a dream come true, but it is never going to happen.

 

[Iron Lurker]

Ironically their set for the World Slavery Tour was shorter than the most recent tours. Of course they were touring more extensively back then.